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Forum:What source do we use for page numbers?
The page numbers for volume VI are different between the hard copy and the web comics. User:Zarchne has started editing Chronology - Volume VI to use the hard copy page numbers. This will cause confusion. Specify a page number and different people will look at different pages. In addition to the chronology there are articles (like Lord Selnikov) that refer to pages using the web comic page numbers (and a cast list that will be done some day). What should we do to deal with this problem? Should we list both sets of page number? There are also many cases where pages are referenced by date, but I don't expect that information is in the hard copy. (And then there are the pages in the hard copy that aren't on the web.) Argadi 20:04, 8 August 2008 (UTC) The web page id (and GG_link) is sufficient to identify pages on the web. Actually, come to think of it, I probably put in most of the references to page numbers because it's better form than "here". (In general, you want the link text to be something meaningful. (Rather than an expletive.)) I'm pretty sure that I always intended the page numbers to represent the page numbers in print, and that the numbers on the web page should be considered provisional. On the other hand, there's a number of places where I could imagine the Foglios deciding to add another page in a revised edition. For example, page 96 is the second page of a two-page spread that appears overleaf rather than facing its mate. However, that probably won't happen until after all of this edition is published, which is apparently, like, 16 years hence. (You don't want them in the position of Donald Knuth, where he's got more revisions on the first two chapters of his book (TAoCP, Volume I, 3rd edition) and last I checked he hasn't even published chapters seven and eight (Vol. IV), yet.) Therefore, I think it's safe to assume that the page number in the tree-corpse version will be stable for some time. Theoretically, you could have a system with an abstract page id that would have locators for various instantiations of the page associated with it, but I don't think it's worth worrying about at this point. The provisional page number can be looked up in the graphic, and I'm not sure how useful that is, anyway. It may be important to explain that the page number in the Chronology is intended to be the most recent we have, with print (perhaps contrary to expectations) superseding the web, however. As far as referencing print-only pages goes, the only way would involve the print page number. One of the functions of the Chronology, then, is to provide a mapping between the web "date" id and the print page number... we are providing that service. (Not that it's hugely valuable or anything, but there it is.) ⚙Zarchne 21:25, 8 August 2008 (UTC) :Two thoughts: :# Should you put anything in the style guide about avoiding the use of page numbers? (Addendum: A slightly more complicated option for the style guide: suggest that page numbers be avoided for volumes where the web comics have page numbers aren't known to be in sync with the printed volumes, with a list showing the state of each volume. This seems overly complicated. Argadi 18:25, 11 August 2008 (UTC)) :# Would you mind if I edited the chronology to include both print and web page numbers? Would "10 (5)" be the right format? (Of course, with a note at the top — or possibly at every section break — explaining the format. : Argadi 23:07, 8 August 2008 (UTC) ::I guess you can go ahead with those changes. Since no one else has responded, it evidently is not a huge issue in people's minds. As I wrote, the main purpose of a page number is to help find the page in the print version. Maybe "10 (005)" to match the format on the graphics, which will also serve as a reminder of which is which. ⚙Zarchne 18:43, 11 August 2008 (UTC) :::The leading zeros are a good idea, thanks for the suggestion. Argadi 15:10, 12 August 2008 (UTC) Automatically generating page numbers If someone wants to automatically generate page numbers, I have some example code that could be a start for the project in my sandbox. It would be possible to have GG_link display both web and print page numbers (inline, in a generated reference, or possibly in a message that appears when you hover over the link). (It think it would be a neat idea, but it would be tedious work to encode the page number rules and I'm not sure how valuable it would be.) Argadi 16:11, 10 March 2009 (UTC)